Rewarding Moment

You know as a mom you try to teach your kids to love each other, and be happy for each other, and thoughtful of each other when something sad happens and you wonder if anyone is listening….

Well a couple of weeks ago Jessie and Mark finished up their swimming lessons and Jessie passed onto the next level, but Mark did not.  And he was devastated; partly because he thought he could do some things that were not passed off on his review and partly because he didn’t want to be alone in a class of people he didn’t know the next time around.  Anyway, it was quite dramatic and I could tell that he was just making himself feel worse and worse with those nasty little mumbling lines that Satan throws into our heads when we’re already feeling bad.  So I coxed him out of the shower and after he got dressed we snuggled on the couch together.

Meanwhile, Jessie, Abbie and Spencer completely on their own and unknown to Mark and I made a little surprise for Mark on his bed with his stuffed animals.  They were so sweet and so willing to help him feel better.  It was a rewarding moment. This one reads: I love you Mark, Love BlueMoon This one: You are a great snuggle buddy! Army Bear (with a “look in this pocket” sign to show where Abbie had filled his pocket with her Smarties.) Spotnick added: You are a great swimmer and Spencer’s note: You’re my favorite big brother.

It probably made Mark feel a happier, but it almost made his mom cry she felt so good.

OK – Today Spencer picked a story from The Friend for me to read to him, but he cautioned me, “Mom, this will probably make you cry.”  And it did, it was such a sweet story, but enough with the tears!!

Abbie has her kindergarten store this Tuesday and so we made our own Chutes and Ladders game (of course,with an extra game for Spencer).  Here’s Abbie rounding the corners of the game and Spencer painting the markers.  It was a fun (and not too messy) day.My kids have found a new favorite site for playing games.  www.friv4school.com  And while you have to careful with this site, we have found some really fun games.  And as a result, Ken took this picture of the kids last Saturday.  The great thing is that they enjoy watching each other play and are pretty good at taking turns. A few of our favorites are Gluey, Mini Train (Spencer actually loves to wreck the train as well as try and get it to go into the tunnel), Chocolate Shop Frenzy, Balbodro, Bloons, Shuffle, and Plumber 2.  Here’s the best I can do with showing you where the games are…

Mark had the third grade track meet two weeks ago.  He ran the 400 meter.  Does he look totally freezing to you!!  Well he was….he left his coat at school and it was NOT warm in the morning.  Abbie, Spencer and I arrived just in time to watch his race and then we went back home to get him warm clothes.  (While we were home Abbie and Spencer exchanged their jackets for coats, gloves and hats too.)  He got 2nd place in his heat.Then we stood in line for the softball throw and tried to warm him back up. I think he threw the softball 60-something feet which is probably an average length. He also ran the 200 meter and came in third in his heat.We had to leave before his relay but I think they came in 5th overall.  He didn’t win any, but Abbie was sure proud of him and he was happy that he did his best.  What more can you ask for?

OK – here is the final picture from this novel of a post.  Abbie and Spencer have been intrigued with these tiny magnet measuring spoons I have on my fridge and the other morning I found them playing in the flour bucket with them.  Trying to be a “fun” mom I asked if they’d like some flour of their own to play in.  So two plates and two scoops of flour later we had two happy kids scooping and pretending at the table to their hearts delight…ahhhh, the simple fun things in life!